“Let’s go or you’ll be late, Jaquaryda!”
“Jaq! Jaq! Get uuuuuup~!
“It’s time to fly!”
 
…
            Five more minutes… They thought to themselves, ruffling up what little white downy they still had and attempted to revisit a comforting dream of the wind and songbird dancers. Then, the culprit of their lack of morning rest appeared. A mini hand, coming out of nowhere it seemed, pressed harshly on their shoulder blades right next to their wings, sending a wave of pain that made sure Jaq wouldn’t be getting more sleep that morning. They shot up with a shout of pain, nearly knocking their captor off balance, and rubbed their eyes before looking over at the small, blurry outline of a young little girl. Her soft downy was barely beginning to molt, but Jaq was sure they caught sight of the small patches of thin grey feathers outlining her inner wings. “Get up, get up, get uuuup!” She squealed, taking one of Jaq’s hands and attempting to pull them off their very enticing nest of blankets.
 
“Not now, Claerin- Can’t you see I’m trying to give myself some beauty sleep?” They laughed as Claerin huffed and swatted at them with a tiny tan hand, her brown eyes now ablaze.
“Humph, you don’t NEED beauty sleep, Jaq, and you know it! We’re OWLS.”
“I’m an owl- hybrid; so technically, I’m allowed a few minutes.”
“You look more owl than me, and I’m full-bred! Come onnnnn Jaq, you’re already uuuuup,” she whined, tugging at a particularly sensitive primary feather that nearly threw Jaq into a vicious twitching fit. They wrinkled their nose and grabbed their sister’s hand harder than intended, which made them mentally wince and planned on apologizing for later.

“HEY! Stop!”

“Not unless you get up! Our dads are waiting for us to go to the Nest-Camp-Thingy-or-something!” She let them go, rubbed her wrist, then placed her small hands on her small hips. Jaq groaned in realization of why they were forced up this early. “I told our dads I didn’t want to go… “
“Well you don’t have a choice now. It’s not MY fault you aced your advanced flight classes accidentally.”

       Jaq pouted their lips, staring at their painted wall of mahogany and birch-speckled browns and whites. That was their excuse for why they passed their mandatory bird-of-prey flight exams. They loved flying; seeing the sky, reaching with every ounce of strength but barely scratching the surface of the sun, and hoping that one day, you might be able to hear the twinkling of the stars… The advanced exams felt like a morning breeze to complete. But, they didn’t want to actually pass. It was an accident they had planned to fail in the first place. Their dark, horned-owl feathers ruffled. They got a 90% grade average. The highest many haven’t seen in years. At least that’s what they all say. Jaq has seen many much-more talented folks zooming along in their designated flocks. Those birds deserve that score. Not them.

       Nonetheless, they had, unfortunately, obtained that above-average grade, and now they’re going to one of the most famous flight academies in the bird-of-prey district Chordata… N.E.S.T Academy. Jaq read about it in a magazine two years ago when one of their dads had left it slumped against his desk. NEST is said to represent a “Nation for Evolving Students and Talents”. Jaq had no clue what form of talent they had, but they’re willing to find that out. Somewhat. Maybe. Hopefully. You can do this, Jaq, it won’t be hard! You’re just going to introduce yourself to national leaders of the Chordata teams… As a hybrid who shouldn’t have even passed the exams… Oh Icarus this is going to go so bad-

       They shooed a giggling Claer out of their room and, reluctantly, got ready for their first day. I have no idea what to wear… I have to make a good first impression but I DON’T- Great… What do I have that isn’t dirty…  Jaq thought with a deep-set frown. After five minutes of contemplating why they shouldn’t lay back down and forget the day, they eventually decided on a casual black flannel with a cream-colored tee, fitting a silver chain around their neck, and throwing on velvet-grey jeans and their favorite tailored shoes. They ran their hands multiple times through their hair and looked in the mirror to judge themselves on their very plain appearance despite the academy they are about to attend.  The style looked a little too casual. This doesn’t look half bad! … If I was about to visit a dark alley on my way to a club… Well, I’m not changing out of it. Next, the looks. Almond-tan skin, brindled like a tiger with an almond-brown to match their ecosystem, and dark freckles covering every part of exposed skin. Bright gold eyes looked up to fix their frosted-tipped, curly grey undercut. They attempted [and failed] to mentally discard the white patches of vitiligo covering the whole left side of their body. This they got from their biological mother, who had begun to visit whenever time allowed, and was surprisingly sweet despite being a part of the Red-Tailed Hawks.

        Their dads, a Golden Eagle and a Horned Owl, always talk about how special it is to be ‘spotted’. It doesn’t look TERRIBLE, Jaq thought to them self, tracing their jawline where a particular set of spots showed off the most, but it appeared to others as freakish and unwanted.  Even ugly, which was a commonly used word for ‘spotted’ avian. Jaq gave a fanged grin at the mirror and, crossing their arms, flared their clumsily-large wings to show off the array of patterned red-brown against white primaries.

It fit them perfectly, then.
-------
 
“Let’s get going, Jaquaryda, or we’ll be late! Are you ready to go?”

“Yup! I’ll be right down!”

I don’t want to go…

Jaq squeaked open their door, thankfully finding no signs of an approaching younger sister, and began making their way down the hall. The sweet scent of their dads’ baking tickled Jaq’s nose. I love my dad’s cooking… With a gentle smile, they picked up their pace from a mild jog to a sprint.
Maybe I can have a bite before we leave. If I’m fast enough.
They swung on their worn-down satchel that was hanging on the bathroom doorknob, leapt over the ten stairs that lead to the living room level, and nearly ran into their dad, who was wide-eyed and blurry-imaged, if it wasn’t for the wooden ledge catching Jaq’s satchel with a sudden shhick and a shudder from the force of their halt. They bumped into the wall, tripped on their own feet, and fell flat on their hips against the last step. Jaq could feel their chest beating faster than the new throbbing pain in their back, and they prepared a strong apology... A booming laugh calmed the nerves and Jaq sighed in relief. It was their Horned Owl dad; the Master of No-Discipline, as Jaq usually said.

“Easy there, ya finch-pinch. You almost ran me over!”
His freckled father exclaimed, reaching out a hand and pulling Jaq to their feet; all the while keeping a steady arm on their shoulder to help balance them out. “Are ya that excited? Or did ya smell my cooking?” Jaq chuckled, smoothing out their ruffled wings. “The second option,” they admitted. Their father let out another thunderclap of a laugh.

“Knew it!”
           
            Side by side, the two walked through the arched doorway and out into the open air. Jaq took a deep breath of the morning coolness. They lived in a cold redwood forest with trees taller than mountains, providing plenty of oxygen and crosswinds attempted to filter through their leaves to fly nearly as high at their tallest branches. Their house was the cheapest in the Owl District, but Jaq found it perfect flying exercise; their small cottage was built where the trees were the thickest and the farthest away from the rest of the other Roosts, which allowed them to practice gliding maneuvers without fear of other avian judgement. Their father was the one who took off first, getting a short running start before stretching out his elegant white wings and lifting off towards the others who were seated on a nearby branch, watching the two curiously. Claerin waved to Jaq, who did so in return before joining their dad in the air, the rush of cold winds bringing a smile to their face. Their Golden Eagle father leapt off his branch to join the duo, Claerin taking no time to follow closely behind. Due to her fluffy wings, she had to hold tightly onto her dads’ hands to prevent the downy from weighing her down. They’ve done it before.

“You took an awful long time in there, Jaquaryda… Shouldn’t you be at least a little more active?”
Their dad taunted, his golden wings shimmering as if they were made from the real ore; metallic and expensive. The sun had no issue expressing their beauty… And intimidation. Uh Oh… Alright, gotta come up with something to get him back- Jaq looked down at the speckled grass below, stranded with no form of comeback. Thankfully, his Horned Owl father, Laz, answered instead, “Wouldn’t ya be just as nervous, Rilno? This is barely as bad as prom was, remember?”

       That quieted Rilno to mere grumbles of displeasure, to which Laz smirked in such obvious triumph you would think he won a fight instead. The prom… Jaq had many memories and stories being told to them from their dads about the very eccentric prom dance their dads attended. Lots of dancing, lots of drinks, and lots of feather-clippings… It ended when Rilno yelled at the Secretary group and got into a fist-fight. “They kick hard,” he always says during that specific part of the tale, which breaks Laz down into one of his hearty laughs. That’s how those stories always ended up; one dad laughing and the other trying to defend his point to no avail.

        Jaq shot Laz a quick, small smile, thankful for his backup, to which their father bumped them in the arm with a hand, his crooked grin being the only thing Jaq could see beside the white feathers that shined like snow against even the darkest shadows of the woods.
Jaq focused now on the branches before them, feeling their eyes adjust to the darkness with ease. It was the thing they bragged about to most along with Laz. The leaves whispered tales of adventure the furthest they flew until they came across the canopy of silver-tipped ferns who helped create the barrier separating their house from the rest of the District. Beyond that, they’ll travel through the center of Chordata, inside the Eagle District, where NEST Academy awaits them… Jaq couldn’t help the tremor riding down their back, but they were unsure whether the feeling was of fright or excitement. Let’s find out, shall we?
       Jaq squared their shoulders, peered out at the crimson-highlighted trees, where their bark shined with tender droplets of the sun’s golden blood, and shook their head. NEST Academy… I hope you’re prepared.